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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
Inspiring
People
Andrew Graham-Dixon
Sixth Former Aerin Hobbs writes:
For the
third in our
Inspiring People
talk series,
Andrew Graham-Dixon came to The
Henry Marsh
Sixth Former Izzy Degroot writes:
The
Teddies community enjoyed welcoming
Dr Henry Marsh in January. Luckily,
MedSoc and Psychology pupils had
reserved tickets for the talk as there
was huge demand from members of the
public. Henry, a leading neuroscientist
and author, spoke on the topic of ‘What
our thoughts are made of’. He began
by focusing on a study that compared
the experiences of adoptive children in
harsh conditions alongside those raised
in a relatively normal environment. He
showed the audience the difference in
brain size and shape between these two
different groups. He explained how vital
it is that children receive love, support
and care from a young age to avoid
catastrophic effects on their brains.
Marty Jopson
Shell Adelaide del Mar writes:
Our whole year
group went to The North Wall to listen to
a science lecture by Marty Jopson, presenter
and science researcher on the BBC’s
The
One Show
, as part of the
Inspiring People
series. Marty spoke about the science behind
everyday life; it was very engaging and so much
fun to watch. He talked to us about bubbles
and how they are actually a massive part of life
– so much so that you can find bubbles in Jaffa
Cakes! He tried to make the biggest bubble
in the world and he showed us a machine
that made very high pitched noises and had
really cool laser lights. The talk was enlivened
by explosions, high frequency sounds
synchronised to a musical beat and, above all,
Marty’s enthusiasm and twirly moustache.
We all loved it and it made us feel even more
inspired to enjoy science and Jaffa Cakes!
re-painted as tomato was denied; and the
painting rejected. Andrew told us that he
spoke with Caulfield after the incident who
said that had he known that this was how
his work would be judged, he would have
sent a menu...
North Wall and gave a superb lecture
on the untold stories behind paintings
and the different ways of looking at
art. Prior to Andrew’s talk, he spent an
hour with Art History pupils talking to
us about his career and his new love for
photography. We found out more about
his BBC documentary,
Stealing Van Gogh
,
which uncovered the true story behind
the greatest art heist of the 21st century:
the audacious theft from the Van Gogh
Museum in Amsterdam of two priceless
paintings. He mused in a theoretical way on
how easy it would be to make an attempt
on the Ashmolean! A natural raconteur, he
told us a wonderful anecdote about Patrick
Caulfield’s
Fish and Sandwich
(left). The
possibility that the contents of the featured
sandwich might be ham almost caused a
diplomatic incident when the painting was
dispatched to hang in the British Embassy
in Saudi Arabia. A request to have the filling
He went on to recall his time working in
St George’s Hospital in London, describing
his most challenging and most rewarding
operations. He talked in detail about the
difficulty of removing tumours from the
brain given how hard it is to see where brain
and tumour divide. Damaging brain cells can
have significant implications for the patient
so such surgery is fraught with danger.
Dr Marsh left the audience with a very
important message that he believes has
helped to shape his distinguished career:
‘you have to make mistakes and fail in
order to do better and learn’.